Product Description

Unique, easy-to-use digital microscope captures high-quality images (10 to 200x magnification) and bends to allow teachers and students to view even hard-to-see objects! Built-in camera and microphone enable students to record and describe their investigations and inquires, then download them to a PC or Mac. Use with your interactive whiteboard, projector or PC or Mac to encourage class demonstration or individual exploration. Charges and downloads via computer USB port. Compatible with PC (Vista, XP, Windows 7) and Mac OS X (10.5, 10.6 and 10.7).

This microscope is really neat! It is relatively easy to use, right out of the box. My 7 yr. old was able to manipulate the microscope and focus it in on what he...Read complete review

This microscope is really neat! It is relatively easy to use, right out of the box. My 7 yr. old was able to manipulate the microscope and focus it in on what he wanted to see. We had fun putting all sorts of things under it (rocks, hands, fingernails, etc...) and it kept us both entertained. The microscope is a little hard to focus so I had to do that part, but he had fun taking pictures of the different items. The software is user friendly, but doesn't have many instructions and it took a bit of time to figure out. I love that you can use the software to measure different areas of the pictures. All-in-all this is a great tool that is easy to use, but also very technical.

VS

Most Liked Negative Review

Two PCs, no joy

Cannot install - tried two different computers. I see that 64 bit doesn't work only by reading reviews. There was a software disc, no instruction manual. Can't install software from download without it...Read complete review

Cannot install - tried two different computers. I see that 64 bit doesn't work only by reading reviews. There was a software disc, no instruction manual. Can't install software from download without it restarting my main computer in safe mode. When finally running, won't recognise "the device" and tries to use my webcam instead. Absolute horror show - two very technical parents who have been trying since Christmas Day to get this working for our two children (our 9 year old boy received this at Christmas from us).

Merchant response: Hi Valentin - Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us. We've clearly dropped the ball and would like an opportunity to make things right. Please contact me directly at selene@learningresources.com. Thank you -Selene

I used this in another teacher's classroom years ago, thought it would be a nice addition to mine. Wrong! It won't work on my Windows XP laptop despite shipping w/ a software installation CD for Windows XP! I wish I would have read the reviews before purchasing, hopefully it can be returned for a full refund.ps: I tried to give it 0 stars, but you can't - you must give at least 1 star or you can't submit your comment/review

Was this a gift?:

No

Bottom LineNo, I would not recommend this to a friend

Merchant response: We’re so sorry to hear about your product. It is very important to us that you enjoy all your purchases from Learning Resources. Please contact Customer Service at 1-800-333-8281 (Monday-Friday 7:30am-5:00pm CST) or info@LearningResources.com and we would be happy to send you a replacement. We apologize for any inconvenience.

I have a MAC and this product is NOT friendly with my laptop. Once it was switched over to the USB connection, the screen was black. It worked good with my laptop camera, but I have no use for that. I need the magnification function. This was a waste of money and should really be redesigned.

Was this a gift?:

No

Bottom LineNo, I would not recommend this to a friend

Merchant response: We are sorry that you are having problems with your Twist. We would love to help you with it, please contact customer service at info@learningresources.com. Thank you.

Cannot install - tried two different computers. I see that 64 bit doesn't work only by reading reviews. There was a software disc, no instruction manual. Can't install software from download without it restarting my main computer in safe mode. When finally running, won't recognise "the device" and tries to use my webcam instead. Absolute horror show - two very technical parents who have been trying since Christmas Day to get this working for our two children (our 9 year old boy received this at Christmas from us).

Was this a gift?:

Yes

Bottom LineNo, I would not recommend this to a friend

Merchant response: We are so sorry that you are having problems using your Twist. Please contact our customer service team at info@learningresources.com and they would love to help you. Thank you.

The product seems to be an excellent concept for my needs as a nature educator, but BEWARE if you have a Mac with an operating system below 10.6!My Mac Notebook has OS 10.5.8, and it refuses to open the driver that comes on the CD. Same problem trying the drivers ofered on the website. The literature on the website makes no mention of this liability, unless you open the instruction booklet and read through it, where it talks about installing the software. I'm sure many, many teachers have macs with operating systems below 10.6, so this is a real problem. I hope the software developers solve this; otherwise, I'm stuck!

Was this a gift?:

No

Bottom LineNo, I would not recommend this to a friend

Merchant response: We are sorry that you are having problems using the Twist with your Mac. As stated in the product description, the Twist is only compatible with Mac OS 10.6 and above. If you are able to update your OS on your Mac, please contact our customer service team (info@learningresources.com) and they can walk you through the installation process. Thank you.

This is a decent microscope and fun to observe treasures found on nature walks with our kids. It works great for home use, but if I had ordered this for my high school classroom I would have been very disappointed! Here are a few things to think about before ordering one.

Magnification:The total magnification is 200x. On a compound microscope the smallest objective is typically 10x, but that should be multiplied by the optical lens (also 10x) for a total magnification of 100x. If the next objective has a magnification of 40x (40x*10x=400x) then it will have a magnification twice as powerful at this twist scope... so don't expect much better magnification than the smallest objective on your high school microscope. It is possible to view onion cell walls if you have a single layer of cells, but there is little to no detail inside.

Focus:The microscope focuses by twisting a knob on the flexible part of the scope. It can be very difficult to focus because the lens moves the minute you remove your hand or if your hand moves while trying to turn it. The lens also has to be completely against the object to view it at 200x (if you can even get it close enough to get that much magnification). On 50x – 100x, my 4yr old can use it by herself to look at grass/leaves… but anything more powerful and the images are too "jumpy" for her.

Software:The software is buggy and slow to install/open. Once it starts, it is easy to use. The images are not saved with the magnification you used to capture them. So if you want accurate measurements in the Twist Measure program, you have to remember it. I really wish there was software for my tablet so it was easier to take the scope with us to observe things.

I just got this and downloaded the newest software from the learning resources website.

I am using it on a mac mini which doesn't even have a CD drive, so being able to download the software was nice.

Once the software was installed (which was super easy), it basically plugs in and is ready to go.

I work at a nature center and this will be used for interactive exhibits, and for afterschool learning programs, and field trips.

I know this is going to be SUCH a fun tool - I am excited to delve deeper into the micromeasure application, which allows you to measure what you are looking at, but this is going to be GREAT for looking at bugs, feathers, macroinvertebrates, basically anything.

What a simple yet useful and impressive device.

This is good for things that are not quite microscopic, which is great because compound microscopes are only so useful.

This microscope is really neat! It is relatively easy to use, right out of the box. My 7 yr. old was able to manipulate the microscope and focus it in on what he wanted to see. We had fun putting all sorts of things under it (rocks, hands, fingernails, etc...) and it kept us both entertained. The microscope is a little hard to focus so I had to do that part, but he had fun taking pictures of the different items. The software is user friendly, but doesn't have many instructions and it took a bit of time to figure out. I love that you can use the software to measure different areas of the pictures. All-in-all this is a great tool that is easy to use, but also very technical.